Best Way to get from London to Pamplona?

Hi Lanialii,

Pamplona is a lovely town to visit, especially if you are there outside of the non-stop party scene that is the festival of San Fermin, when so many people come to see the running of the bulls. It's a nice sized city with a wonderful old town and beautiful cathedral. Depending on how much time you have, it's worth spending a few nights there. There is a small airport in Pamplona, but there are no direct flights from Britain.

You could fly directly from London to Bilbao (see www.skyscanner.com for flight options), spend a night in Bilbao, or just head straight to San Sebastian by bus for 2 or 3 nights (my favorite town in Basque country). Head to Pamplona for a night or two (1 hour by train or bus), then take the train to Madrid (3 hours) to spend a night before flying home, or fly from Pamplona through Madrid to go home.

Pamplona is 57 miles from San Sebastian and the north coast--tucked behind the Pyrenees Mountains. And its airport is very small.
You can fly inexpensively on Vueling Airlines from Gatwick Airport into Bilbao and rent a car there.

I think your best bet would be to fly London to Madrid and then rent a car. As far as Pamplona goes - it would depend on your expectations. We went as a side trip and stopped at the famous Hemmingway hangout (Cafe Irun) and walked the path of the Running of the Bulls. It was only a few hours but I did enjoy it and I think it makes you really feel what it must have been to be Hemmingway walking those streets way back in "the Sun also Rises" days, but also the thrill of what it must be to watch the running of the Bulls during festival. Past that I don't know that I would encourage anyone to go. We were based in Logrono (45 min away) and if you like the Spanish tapas scene - I don't think any other Spanish town does it better!! And you are in the heart of Rioja wine country so there is opportunity there if you like wine to do a tour. Be aware that if you were to try to train through France to Spain - the border is a bit of a headache. We did it and it was fine but ticketing was a challenge from the two rail stations. Long story but I would have done it differently in hindsight. The Hendaye/Irun rail station was tricky. But you would only do that if you were meandering through France I imagine. I cannot speak to San Sebastián or Bilbao.

Thanks for the various suggestions. We plan on staying in Spain for 4-5 nights so I'm still trying to figure out which option would be easier. Flying into Bilbao on Vueling, though there are mixed reviews about this airline and many complaints about lost luggage... or just flying into Madrid and taking a 3 hour train ride to Pamplona. San Sebastian sounds lovely too but I'm thinking it might be too much to fit in. We'll probably want to spend two nights in Madrid since we have friends who live there. So perhaps fly into Madrid, spend the night... head to Pamplona for 2 nights... then back to Madrid for another night or two before flying home? I'm kinda torn because San Sebastian looks beautiful and is so close to Pamplona.

I will just add that I flew Vueling from Munich to Barcelona and didn't have any problems. The only critique I have is tr checkin was a bit of a cluster and took forever. But once that was done, it went very smooth. So if they fly London to Bilbao - that sounds like a great plan to me.

Great thanks Amy for your additional input. It would be great to visit Bilbao and San Sebastián as well! Wish I had more time in Spain! I'm thinking London to Bilbao, then head to San Sebastián for two nights, one night in Pamplona and two nights in Madrid. Sound like a good plan?

sounds good to me, buen viaje!